Occupy Foreign Affairs

Many of the young people spearheading the OWS movement have followed the rules, gone to college, racked up lots of students loans, and still can't get decent jobs.

Occupy Foreign Affairs

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Inequality has become so extreme that even the foreign policy elite is worried.

G20 Coalition to Tax Speculation

http://www.ips-dc.org/blog/emerging_economies_join_g20_coalition_to_tax_speculation

Oxfam activists dressed as G20 leaders attend a dress rehearsal for the Cannes G20 with a strong message: it's no movie, we need real action! Photo Credit: Delphine Bedelwww.oxfam.org/en/g20-cannes-2011

Emerging Economies Join G20 Coalition to Tax Speculation

November 4, 2011 · By Sarah Anderson

The struggle to tax Wall Street moved forward in Cannes.

Talk about piling on. Bill Gates, the Pope, Michael Moore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1,000 parliamentarians, 1,000 economists, the world's major labor leaders, Occupy Wall Street protesters, Oxfam and other major development groups, thousands of nurses, the World Wildlife Fund and other major enviros…It might be easier to list who didn't come out didn't come out in support of a Wall Street tax in the lead-up to this week's G20 summit in Cannes.

At an action this week, Robin Hood visited G-20 leaders. Photo and action by Oxfam International.

The outcome? No home run, but some measurable steps forward.

No one expected a G20-wide agreement on taxing financial transactions at this summit. Despite rising support, opposition from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, among others, is still just too strong. But there were high hopes that a subset of European and non-European G20 countries would launch a "coalition of the willing" in support of the tax.

This goal was achieved. In his concluding press conference, summit host French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that South Africa, Brazil, and Argentina were joining the list of current supporters, including France, Germany, Spain, the European Commission, and several other European governments. Sarkozy said he hopes to move towards implementation in early 2012.

Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been the strongest supporters of taxing financial transactions for nearly two years. A few months ago, the European Commission also reversed its earlier opposition and released proposed legislation for such a tax in the European Union. But while Europe appears likely to move forward, the addition of several emerging market countries to the supporter list is significant for several reasons:

• The increased revenue that can be generated.
• The reduced potential for tax avoidance.
• The enhanced chances that revenue won't just be plowed into European bank bailouts, but instead spent on human needs in both the global North and South.
• The strengthened legitimacy through the backing of rising powers in the Global South.

For U.S. advocates, there was another modest victory. Over the past two years, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has made no secret of his aversion to the tax. In September, Geithner angered some of his European counterparts by objecting to proposals to raise funds to address their deficit problems through an EU-wide tax on financial transactions.

In Cannes, the Obama position shifted from active blocking to friendly neutrality.

"The president made clear that he shares the objectives that Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy have in ensuring that the financial sector contributes an appropriate share to the resolution of crises," said Michael Froman, the White House's G20 point person. "I think there is broad consensus between the Europeans that the president met with this morning and ourselves about the ability of each to pursue this in their own way, whatever way they see to be most effective."

The final communiqué of the G20 leaders was a disappointment, however.

The only relevant line in it is a typical diplomatic non-statement: "We acknowledge the initiatives in some of our countries to tax the financial sector for various purposes including a financial transaction tax inter alia to support development."

But with the likelihood of a critical mass of countries coordinating taxes on financial speculation, this kind of mumbo jumbo may disappear in the coming years. Once other governments start generating massive revenues by taxing speculation, even the most closed-minded economic advisers in this country may see the issue anew.

Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.

"A financial speculation tax (a.k.a. FST, Robin Hood tax or financial transaction tax) could raise serious money – on the order of $400 billion per year, and groups that are worried about the impacts of climate change think that this is one of the best proposals out there for generating some of the money developing countries desperately need to adapt to a warming world and to build low-carbon economies."

Obama: If You Can't Lead Then Get Out of the Way

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Major U.S. environment, development and faith groups call on President Obama not to block European countries' progress toward a financial speculation tax at the G-20 Summit.

Taxing the Wall Street Casino

Who Supports Financial Speculation Taxes? Prominent Economists and Business Leaders: for example, Bill Gates, Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Dani Rodrick, Jeffrey Sachs, George Soros, Warren Buffett.

Taxing the Wall Street Casino Fact Sheet

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Governments around the world are struggling to deal with the crushing problems of joblessness, poverty, and climate change. A financial speculation tax is the best option on the table to raise the massive revenues needed to address these urgent needs.

Pentagon Papers: How IPS helped Ellsberg

The Pentagon Papers, top secret Defense Department documents that were leaked during the Vietnam War, are finally declassified. The documents shocked the U.S. public at the time of their release 40 years ago, and helped end the Vietnam War. Just like today's WikiLeaks revelations, the Pentagon Papers helped to wake people up to the falsehoods and atrocities of our overseas wars.

How the Institute for Policy Studies Helped Release the Pentagon Papers - IPS

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IPS co-founder Marcus Raskin and others provided crucial aid to whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

Tax the rich

If corporations and households with $1 million income paid at the same levels they did in 1961, the Treasury would collect an additional $716 billion a year.

We Don't Need to Shut Down the Government: Tax the Wealthy and Deadbeat Corporations to Close Budget

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If corporations and households with $1 million income paid at the same levels they did in 1961, the Treasury would collect an additional $716 billion a year.

Stop corporate tax dodging!

http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/stop_corporate_tax_dodging_talking_points_and_background_information

Nearly 19,000 global corporations have a mail drop at Ugland House, a single building in the Cayman Islands. Ugland House is the legal address of these overseas corporate subsidiaries, many set up for the purposes of avoiding taxes.

Irresponsible politicians have drained state and federal budgets by giving corporations huge tax breaks and allowing them to dodge taxes through overseas tax havens.

Stop Corporate Tax Dodging: Talking Points and Background Information - IPS

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Most of us pay more in taxes than many U.S. corporations, and corporate tax avoidance has increased dramatically in the last 50 years.

• • Tax havens punish responsible businesses that have to compete unfairly against tax dodgers. A domestic U.S. business that pays its taxes is at an unfair disadvantage with multi-corporations that game the system and shift profits to low or no tax havens. A new coalition has formed called "Business and Investors Against Tax Haven Abuse."